Track Day Fun!

[devondragon]

I took my '14 M6 coupe CP to the track for the first time yesterday. It was also my first time at the new Palmer Motorsports Park in Ware, MA, track. I've run my previous cars ('08 E92 M3, '00 Audi S4) up at Loudon, NH perhaps 5 times over the past 5-6 years (I've run motorcycles up there a LOT though).

The Palmer track is very new, and currently lacks most facilities (garages, paved parking lots, indoor bathrooms, classrooms, restaurant, etc...). They have a trailer office that worked for the classroom sessions, and a few portapottys.

The track is very technical, with 14 turns (although it feels like more), tons of elevation changes, lots of semi-complex camber changes, and doesn't let you get complacent. While corner run-off is a little more than Thompson, it still feels rather unforgiving if you're used to Loudon. You REALLY don't want to go wheels off. The pavement is new and even which is a nice change from Loudon, although there are dust issues in a few areas still.

My first session out was a little rough. First time tracking the M6 and first time at Palmer. The turns are pretty much all VERY late apex and mostly blind, so when you aren't familiar with the track you end up surprised a great deal and with a heavy car end up pushing the front end while you're trying to not run off due to your too early apex.

The next three sessions were much better as I got used to the track and the car. I won't go on about the track too much, but did want to say that it's not a track that is well suited to the M6's strengths. It's basically a series of very tight back to back turns, with very little straight track between them. Even the front "straight" is actually a sweeping right hand turn (decreasing radius to boot if you want to make your line for turn 1) with a wall on the left. So the heavy M6 is penalized in the corners and never really gets a chance to fully open up and put down all that power.

My M6 is the CP coupe, and has a few minor cosmetic changes, but is 100% stock otherwise, and is shod in the standard PSSs. I ran in Sport Plus mode across all three (steering, suspension, engine) and DCT S3, with traction control in MDM mode. This is basically my daily driving setup now except I run suspension in Sport mode normally. I was looking forward to M-Mode HUD, however I foolishly brought polarized sunglasses which made it dim in and out of being readable as my head moved which ended up being more distracting than helpful, so I turned it off (as well as all the collision/lane/etc.. warnings).

At first the M6 felt VERY heavy and understeered like a pig compared to my memories of the M3 last year. However, once I remembered that it's all about steering with the right foot, everything got much better. By using the throttle you can easily adjust the car from understeering, to very neutral feeling, to oversteering to drifting the rear (to spinning out!). Once I had that down, the car felt much better and, I think largely related to the CP suspension in Sport Plus mode, handled WAY better than I had expected. You can't defy physics and it's still a heavy car, so it's not as nimble as my M3, or a Miata, but for a big GT luxury car, it handled really well!

With many of the sharp corners and chicanes getting the rear end loose and sliding it around really helps with getting the car around the track faster. I kept it in MDM mode, which allowed a reasonable amount of oversteer, and at least in two instances probably saved me from a spin. If I do another track day I will probably turn traction control off entirely as I'm more comfortable with the cars limits now, and the MDM mode did kill power for me several times which was annoying. FWIW the M6 MDM mode was more forgiving/fun than the MDM mode in my E92 M3.

I was running in the intermediate group, and there were a few cars that were defiantly faster than me, including a pair of E92 M3s, however the M6 put on a great showing and passed several Corvettes, Miatas, Audis, a handful of new and old M3s, etc... My tires were sliding and squealing almost the entire time, and the rear end was getting loose pretty often, but was still able to make good consistent lap times and did a lot more passing than getting passed (and even lapped a few people).

Even without real straights, with all the elevation changes being able to accelerate STRONGLY on steep uphills was a game changer. It was fun being able to hang with the lighter cars in the corners and then blow past when there was any straighter track.

The brakes stayed firm all day, and the PSS squealed beautifully and slid smoothly. The car was super reliable all day long. The only issue was due to averaging between 5 and 6 MPG on the track, I had to leave during lunch and fill up again

I used the M Lap Timer iOS app plugged into the car, so I have lots of fun data to review, and managed to get go-pro footage of the last two sessions (which I will edit/post later).

TLDR: The M6 is a more capable track car than I would have guessed, and while not as nimble as the M3/M4, it holds its own well and is a TON of fun to throw around a track (even one without good straights).

[devondragon]

GoPro footage from sessions 3 and 4:




I ran mostly 2:03-2:04 but had a couple 2:01 laps

[vladberca]

I really like this kind of videos!
Congrats and share more ☺

[Roadrage]

Very nice video glad you had fun motivating me to do one as well...

[devondragon]

Thanks for the kind words! The lack of response made me wonder if posting about this was a faux pas of some sort. I'm hoping to get the new GoPro mount tomorrow and then I should be able to get better video (lower, outside the car, etc..) and may spring for a newer GoPro as well. Not sure when I'll be at the track next, but it was such a good time I'm sure I won't stay away long.

[rcl]

Great runs thanks for sharing. It's good to see M owners using their cars on track!

[RPiM5]

That track looks pretty awesome. Quick question, is there a noise/decibel limit for cars there like there is at Lime Rock? Thanks!

[devondragon]

I'm not certain. It wasn't an issue for me From what I've found it looks like either there is no limit, or the limit is 103 db.

[Msizzle]

well done, it was a surprise that you reeled that blue vette in during the turns and on the brakes while giving up damn near 1000lb lol. he seemed to pull harder on the straights though. was it a zo6?

[devondragon]

Thanks! I think I was simply willing to be more aggressive on the brakes and in the corners than he was. Yeah Z06 I believe. Honestly I didn't floor it on the front "straight" with the curve and need to tuck right at the end, I didn't feel comfortable carrying more than 120 MPH down there, so was never full out.

[devondragon]

I'm heading back to the Palmer Motorsports Park track on October 14th - http://www.motorsportreg.com/events/...0#.Vc62vbTtlNZ

Would be great to see another M6 there!

[Stonehands]

Thank you for sharing your post. I have yet to track mine. You have given me more reason to. Thanks!

[joe@trinityautosport]

Nice write up. I ran my '13 f13 several times out here and the car performance well. I'm 1 second off my time from my full e92 track build. Not bad for a heavy car.

[devondragon]

Nice! I think with a longer track, the M6 would have been faster, but my two local tracks are very short/curvy and the M3 absolutely ATE those corners in a way the M6 can't. But the M6 is a much more capable track car than I expected Can't wait for October!